FWEN Participant Opens Restaurant in Nablus

Along the sidewalk of An Najah Street, FWEN Participant Nehaya in the company of family and friends, unveiled the sign to her new restaurant, "Matbakh Beit Al-Eleeyah." While the official grand opening is set for Saturday, March 26, 2011, Nehaya took the opportunity thank all those that supported her throughout the last year, including her friend and fellow FWEN participant Sahar, who designed the new sign.

Nehaya's restaurant will provide traditional Palestinian food to university students interested in a home-cooked meal in place of more typical student foods such as fast food. As a student at An-Najah University (she graduated in 2007 with a degree in biotechnology), Nehaya noticed a problem that is universal to students around the world: Because they live far away from their families while at school, many students miss home-cooked meals and crave “comfort food.” Though her participation in the FWEN project, Nehaya acquired the leadership and business skills necessary to turn her idea into a reality.

ABOUT FWEN: During the Fifth Annual Clinton Global Initiative (New York, September 2009), the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women and Tomorrow’s Youth Organization (TYO) committed to contribute to women’s economic empowerment in Nablus. The project, Fostering Women Entrepreneurs in Nablus, is now underway at the TYO Center in Nablus and at a satellite location in Lebanon.